Mining Plan Rends Social Harmony in Wadas Village

DOKUMENTASI POLDA JATENG

Officers from the Purworejo Police appealed to the residents of Wadas Village to disperse the action, in Wadas Village, Bener District, Purworejo Regency, Central Java, Friday (24/4/2021).

PURWOREJO, KOMPAS — It is normal that there are pros and cons about a certain plan. However, in Wadas village of Purworejo, Central Java, difference in opinion has led to a conflict that has damaged the bonds of friendship between neighbors and relatives. Every resident feels they are right.

Entering Wadas village in Bener district, Purworejo regency, on Wednesday (9/2/2022), visitors are welcomed not by the residents’ warm greeting, but by posters that read, “Wadas Lestari Without Exploitation", "Wadas Opposes", and "Not the Generation Selling Parents' Land”. The atmosphere in the village, which is usually calm and harmonious, seems to have become heated.

The rock from the mine is to be used as the material for building Bener Dam, a national strategic project financed by the state budget with a total cost of around Rp 2.06 trillion (US$144 million).

The social conflict began with a government plan to open an andesite mine in the village, located around 16 kilometers northeast of the regency’s city center, also called Purworejo. The rock from the mine is to be used as the material for building Bener Dam, a national strategic project financed by the state budget with a total cost of around Rp 2.06 trillion (US$144 million).

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Cholifah (45), a resident of Wadas village, said that the villagers had been told of the plans to build the mine and the Bener Dam three years ago. The plan, however, drew pros and cons that had damaged the residents’s sense of kinship and friendship.

KOMPAS/REGINA RUKMORINI

The text containing the sentence refusing mining development was written by residents in their homes in Wadas Village in Bener District, Purworejo Regency, Central Java, as seen Wednesday (9/2/2022)

Cholifah, who had agreed to sell her land to make way for the mine, was shunned by her neighbors. "One neighbor didn't want [their daughter's wedding party] to be held near my house, so they moved the party to the house of another child that was far away," she said.

On the other hand, some people like Sih (not his real name) strongly opposed the mining project and refused to sell his land. "I will keep it because this land is a family inheritance," he said.

Saying that he had never been involved in any protests, Sih admitted that on Tuesday (8/2), he had joined a communal Mujahadah prayer at a mosque that had been organized by the group that opposed the mining plan. Sih said he was shocked that the authorities took very repressive measures during the prayer, arresting many people inside the mosque.

"My brother, sister, even my nephew who was just sitting around and playing at the mosque, were taken away," said Sih.

While meeting on Wednesday at around 1 p.m., Sih confirmed that his family members who had been detained by the police had not yet returned home. The situation was traumatizing some residents.

Julian Duwi, a member of the legal team from the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) that is representing the Wadas residents, said that of the 64 people arrested, 10 were minors.

He said that during the event at the mosque, the police instead protected the pro-mine residents who had fled the aggression of the anti-mine group.

However, Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Ahmad Luthfi said that the information circulating on a number of social media accounts, claiming that the police were repressive during the event on Tuesday (8/2), was misleading. He said that during the event at the mosque, the police instead protected the pro-mine residents who had fled the aggression of the anti-mine group.

Luthfi confirmed that the police had detained 64 residents, but said they were only questioned and then released on Wednesday afternoon.

Bener district head Agus Widiyanto said that the land surveyors from the Purworejo Agriculture Office were in charge of identifying the plants that grew on the land.

According to Agus, the land acquisition issue had caused a division in the local community. Some residents who supported the mining plan wanted the land survey for calculating compensation payments to be accelerated. Those residents who were against the project said that developing the mine would damage the environment and disrupt the residents’ lives.

According to the plan, the mining area will span 617 plots of land. The owners of 353 plots of land agreed with the mining plan, while the owners of the 264 remaining plots opposed it.

KOMPAS/REGINA RUKMORINI

Ganjar Pranowo

Education and counseling commissioner Beka Ulung Hapsara of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) called the police’s repressive action to arrest the residents as “regrettable”. He asked that the land survey be postponed until the situation was more conducive.

Central Java Governor Ganjar on Wednesday apologized to the residents for the incident in Wadas. However, despite the residents' resistance, the plan to develop the mine would proceed. "We will continue to try to communicate with the residents who still oppose it," he said.

The governor said that he had invited the residents opposed to the plan to a dialogue several times with the help of Komnas HAM. But the majority of the residents opposed to the mining and Bener Dam project said the governor did not attend the dialogue.

KOMPAS/HARIS FIRDAUS

Demonstrators carry posters during a solidarity demonstration for Wadas in front of the Yogyakarta Special Region Regional Police Headquarters, Sleman Regency, DIY, Wednesday (9/2/2022).

Meanwhile, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud M.D. said that the residents who opposed the mining project had previously filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court. They had also filed a cassation appeal but the court rejected their appeal, so the mining and dam development project had secured permanent legal force to continue. (EGI/XTI/HRS/PDS/REK/NAD)

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi)